On the 7th October 2015 I attended a Fall Out Boy gig at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. Admittedly, I had seen them before at the same venue a couple of years before. That year the mixing was a bit strange and all I could see was the back of peoples heads. (Man it was a fun concert.) But, how was this time around?
Opening acts. It it two words I dread to hear, but love at the same time. The first opening act was a guy (or
maybe a band, I don’t know) called Charlie Marley. Who is Charlie Marley? Well I have seen him/them live and I am still not entirely sure. He wasn’t the worst opener I have ever seen and he seemed very thankful for being there. He didn’t share a sob story though, which is good because I hate it when acts get all teary because a month ago they were singing in a bar to an old man and his dog. Oh, and Charlie Marley used my favorite instrument, a MacBook Pro.
The next act was a guy and gal called Matt and Kim. Although I don’t think their name is very imaginative they were actually very good. They came out with an amazing amount of energy and although I couldn’t really hear the vocals as the drums were quite heavy, for once I didn’t care that I couldn’t sing along. They even bought along balloons which we all had to blow up and toss around the arena. Great fun. Kim kept standing on her drum kit and even jumped into the crowd and wiggled her butt. It was an odd experience, but exciting nonetheless.
Which brings us to our third opening act–yes, there were three acts, sigh– which was Pro
fessor Green. I understand that Fall Out Boy have taken a different route away from pop punk, but to me and many other fans I met at the gig, we seemed to think that the choice of Professor Green was random. If I was a fan of Professor Green I think I would have enjoyed the set, however since I am not, I spent most of the time just staring up at the stage. However, when they sang Read All About it I did have great fun singing along.
Did I mention that somehow I got to the front? Well left front, so it was a diagonal view of the stage. However, this time there were screens mounted at the top of the stage so that even if you were at the back, you could still see what was going on. I could have done with these screen last time around. The screen then came down when Fall Out Boy switched stage. Clever.
What was the set list did I hear you ask? Well, this was the set list:
Sugar, We’re Goin Down, Irresistible, The Phoenix, A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More “Touch Me”, I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me, Thriller, Alone Together, The Kids Aren’t Alright, This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race, Immortals, Young Volcanoes, Dance, Dance, American Beauty/American Psycho, Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy, Beat It, Uma Thurman, Thnks fr th Mmrs, I Don’t Care, Centuries, My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up) and Saturday.
What did I think of the set list? Well…
Sugar, We’re Goin Down was a good opening song, but to be honest I would have liked them to start off with something from their new album. After all it was their new album tour. Why did they not sing 4th of July?
Everyone was singing along and the room was buzzing until, (duh duh dramatic music) A little Less Sixteen Candles came on. I was surprised by the amount of songs they sang off of From Under the Cork Tree. I know it was their most popular album, but most people in the audience looked like they were sixteen and From Under the Cork Tree was released in 2005. Hmm, all these now sixteen year olds were six when that album was released.
I love The Kids Aren’t Alright and I am so happy they played it. Yayyyyy.
Immortals and Young Volcanoes were actually sang on a different stage near the back. Darn it, I finally get the the front and they go to the back to sing two songs. Typical. I bet all those people who queued all day to get to the front were pissed off. These songs were acoustic which was a nice change from the band bouncing around the stage. It gave us all time to chill. Nice move Fall Out Boy.
Andy Hurley even got his own drum solo. I did not have a clue what the song was which he played at the time. But I was later told it was a Deadmau5 song. Again, a Deadmau5 drum solo struck me as odd considering they spent a lot of time playing songs from their punk pop era.
Grand Theft Autumn. I know I have complained a lot about them singing too many old songs and not enough new songs, but I am glad that they played this one. Definitely the best song on Take This to Your Grave.
Beat it. This struck me as an odd decision. They only played one other song off of Folie à Deux (I Don’t Care) and the other one they picked is a cover. Folie à Deux is my favorite album. Sigh.
When American Beauty started playing giant balloons were tossed into the audience. I didn’t get anywhere near these giant balloons but it was fun to watch them being tossed at the security guards at front of the stage. Some of the security guards looked very angry.
Fire! When they played My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark bits of fire came up at the back of the stage. It was both warming and exciting.
It would seem that Fall Out Boy played all of their hit singles, which is a shame as I mostly like their unreleased songs. Another problem I had with the concert is that the set list and structure of the concert was almost identical to the last one I saw. Of course they substituted a few songs to play their new ones, but I think there should have been more new songs and less old ones. In addition, even after seeing them twice I know very little about the people in the band. (When I saw Lady Gaga she basically told us her life story.) This does not go to say that I did not have a good time because I had an amazing time. The songs they did play had me singing along, well screaming along. And even though I have complained that they sang too many old songs, I actually really love the old stuff. Sugar We’re Goin Down and Thnks fr th Mmrs are two of my all time favorite songs. Fall Out Boy kept the show interesting through balloons and fire and it is a very high energy performance. If you are a fan, then they are totally worth a see.